Sergeant Bigglesworth C.I.D.
Sergeant Bigglesworth CID by W. E. Johns was first published in 1946 by Hodder and Stoughton. There have been 8 subsequent editions in the English language, with the most recent being the 1994 Red Fox paperback edition. The events in the book take place just after World War 2 in Britain, Germany and North Africa. A graphic novel adaptation of the novel was published in French in 1990 by Belgian publisher Emissions Lefrancq with the title Le cygne jaune with story and artwork by Francis Bergèse. Synopsis The war is over but Air Commodore Raymond is quick to approach Biggles and co. with a proposal. There is a gang which takes advantage of the speed and range of aircraft to effect spectacular and high profile robberies, often disposing of their loot before the crimes have even been discovered. Raymond needs Biggles to form an air police force to investigate and fight this new menace. Plot Note: The sections below contain spoilers. In particular, the plot subpage (click here) has an extended summary of the narrative in the book Characters The Special Air Police *Air Commodore Raymond *Biggles *Algy Lacey *Ginger Hebblethwaite *Bertie Lissie Friends and allies *Freddie Lavers *Wing Commander Howath *Wilks *Flying Officer Collingwood *Sergeant Mahmud *Burradidi *Saunders Others *Ludwig Renkell *Kurt Baumer *Julius Hans Gontermann *Max Grindler *Rudolf Preuss *Carlos Scaroni *Franz Schneider *Hauptmann Rudolf von Zoyton *Generaloberst Keller *Erich von Stalhein - mentioned only. Gontermann apparently knew him. Aircraft *De Havilland Mosquito *Spur *Short Empire - Calpurnia *Avro Lancaster *De Havilland Tiger Moth *Caproni bomber adapted as a passenger airliner. Probably a Caproni Ca.133 *Renkell Swan *Renkell Wolf *Renkell transport Ships *''Rajah'' Places Visited *Rawlham *Croydon *Augsburg **Augsburg-Haunstetten Airfield - this was probably where Biggles landed **Hotel Colon *Bahrein *Tripoli **Castel Benito Airport *El Zufra *Alexandria *Khartoum *Cairo **Heliopolis - Algy and Bertie collect a Mosquito from here. *Gibraltar - Biggles overnighted here on his way back from North Africa at the conclusion of the case. Mentioned *Scenes of crime: **Basra to Bombay - the route of the Rajah **Alexander Bay to Cape Town - flight route of the diamond aircraft. **Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro - where the diamonds were disposed of. **Nairobi to Jaggersfontein Copper Mines, Northern Rhodesia - flight route of the payroll aircraft whose silver was robbed. *Biggles mentions a number of actual Algerian places where there are landing grounds: Touggourt, Ouargla, Colomb Bechar, Beni Abbes. Other Research Notes Aerial Victories (See here for details) *Biggles: 1 - Renkell transport *Bertie: 1 - Renkell Wolf References to the past *Von Zoyton Incongruities *As Biggles flies over the wrecked Short Empire flying boat, there is this line: "Ginger had started to turn, to man the gun-turret...." One supposes that Johns thought of the Spur as a modern and updated Beaufighter, with a rear gun. *When Bertie lands at Khartoum, the text says he had never met Wilks but knew him for years as a close friend of Biggles. This is, of course, not true. They had met in Spitfire Parade. Wilks had come over to visit 666 Squadron many times. On the other hand, the text confirms that Ginger knew Wilks. Chronology Editions Category:Books Category:Biggles books Category:Edition research needed Category:Stub